A search has started to find new operators to run park and ride buses around Norwich, including for a service threatened with the axe.
Norfolk County Council is inviting bus companies to bid to take on the running of park and ride services from five Norwich park and ride sites - Thickthorn, Harford, Norwich Airport, Sprowston and Postwick.
The services have all been run by Konectbus since 2015, but the county council is retendering the contract and wants to award it to one or two operators.
But County Hall has been clear it will not provide any subsidies for those services.
Before the Covid pandemic, the services had been self-funding, but the authority this year had to subsidise them with £600,000.
The authority has been considering shutting the Postwick service to save £150,000, should passenger numbers remain too low for it to run without the council having to subsidise it.
The council-owned, 552-parking place site shut during the Covid pandemic, when it was used as a test centre.
Other city park and ride sites reopened in June 2022, but the county council kept Postwick closed, except for a temporary opening that Christmas.
In September last year, under pressure from 11 parish councils, it reopened on a trial basis, subsequently extended.
An operator would need to be convinced it could make money out of the park and ride services before bidding to take them on, which could mean companies are reluctant to run the Postwick service.
Graham Plant, the Conservative-controlled council's cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport said: "The park and ride service is a really important part of our transport strategy for Norwich, so we are keen that through this tender process we can create a service for residents that is sustainable for the future.
"During these times of increased financial pressures within local government we have to be careful with every penny we spend.
"So, as is set out in the tender, our ambition is that this service can be run without any subsidy from us enabling the service to continue."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel